Ethicists Argue Killing Newborn Babies Should Be Allowed

The authors argue that “both fetuses and newborns do not have the same moral status as actual persons,” and that because abortion is allowed even when there is no problem with the fetus’ health, “killing a newborn should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled.”

CaptainWhomp 3 years 21 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago

No, I don't think we should make aborting newborns legal. However, two things which make people individuals are 1) self-awareness of their own existence, and 2) the ability to disapprove of pain beyond a simple stimulus/response mechanism which can be demonstrated by even the most basic of all lifeforms (e.g. amoebas). Cognitive scientists and biologists put this level of mental development at two years after birth, not at any time during the pregnancy. So technically, abortions could rationally extend up until 2 years old.

However, I'm pretty sure the entire world would scream about such a proposition, for whatever non-scientific biases and objections they may have. Plus, it is very likely unnecessary to extend abortion beyond birth, for the obvious reason that if you haven't decided by then, what on Earth has taken so long? So let's just round the deadline back down to birth and keep it there, where it is now.